Destino

There is no other way to visually match the haunting and lyrical piece, Destino. Utilizing a stunning array of Dali's most iconic pieces, this short tells a very emotional tale. It has left me without words to describe it. Simply, it is beautiful, breath-taking, stunning, and almost lyrical in the fluid change of the figures and icons.

The melody will haunt you for days as you struggle to fully grasp this masterpiece.

However, it is at times too Fantasia-like, too Disney, and not enough Dali. It can be taken as a superficial composition, but I like to think of it as more, as though Dali knew something that we do not and this short serves to inform us of his secret.

Although it wasn't completely made by the original collaborators (Dali & Walt Disney), it still has their vision taken from their storyboards. This is classic Dali mixed with a female protagonist who has the familiar Disney style face.

Great story, with a wonderful somewhat tragic ending.

Normally, when I review a film, like everyone else, I give it a rating. However, occasionally I have come upon experimental films so unusual and so non-commercial that doing so would be impossible...and this is definitely the case with "Destino". It's a very surreal film based on story boards designed by Salvador Dali and so it's NOT the sort of thing the average viewer would enjoy...and it coming from Disney must have come as a real surprise to those who have seen it. It seems that back in the 1940s, Walt Disney and Dali wanted to collaborate and a few seconds of film were actually animated. But the project was abandoned and only recently did Disney's nephew, Roy, discover the film and commissioned a team of artists to complete the animated short. It's well animated but odd in every possible way and a film best seen and heard instead of describing. Well worth seeing if you don't mind experimental artsy films...I sure did.

I had the privilege to see Destino at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

It's the only place in the world where it plays on a regular basis.

It six minutes I believe.

I thought it was beautiful.

Enchanting.

If you can, see it.

I absolutely loved it.

Originally conceived as a joint project between Disney and Dalí back in the 1940's, this short animation never got to the stage of being completed for various reasons and instead existed as paintings and storyboards Dalí made with Disney animator John Hench. These were on display at the Tate Modern as part of the exhibition "Dalí & Film" and I did like the fact that I could see the creation of the film and then step next door to watch it and see how close it came to the original design from over fifty years before.

Watching it is a strange but enjoyable experience because it is at once Disney and Dalí and this is a combination that I didn't think sat all that well together thematically or visually. I did get used to it but it did jar with me to see a woman with a typical modern Disney face, suddenly becoming part of a Dalí's creation. Perhaps this was the intension but it did feel a bit like someone was flicking a switch somewhere to go Dalí then Disney then back again – not so much a combination of styles as the two being placed next to one another in one piece. This feeling aside though, it is a quiet engaging and enjoyable film that I enjoyed immensely visually. Dalí's vision is brought to life really well and the images from his storyboard and paintings generally are instantly recognisable.

Again I did wonder if the film would have been quite so "Disney" if it had been made in 1946 with the man himself directly involved – at times I did feel that I was watching Pocahontas and it did take away from the experience a little bit. Fortunately the storyboards prevent it going too far from the original images and as such it is interesting and imaginative; the CGI is a blessing and a curse though. On one hand it makes all this possible but on the other it seems significantly less real than Dalí's actual paintings – I'm not sure quite why but I think the colours are too simple and the imagery lacking in the detail that some of his work has.

Overall though, it is still an enjoyable and enchanting film and a chance to see Dalí's images flowing across the screen. Perhaps a little too Disneyified for my tastes, it is still well worth seeing for the chance to enter a Dalí painting and follow a story about loss and love.